Monday is the non-waiver trade deadline for Major League Baseball so it’s an exciting time for MLB fans, whether their team is in the playoff hunt and is a buyer or their team is out of the hunt and is a selling, looking to build for the future.

But it can also be an exciting, or at least interesting, time for fans in the minors, including the California League.

That’s because every year many players in the Cal League are traded in the month of July.

Such was the case this week, when High Desert second baseman Travis Demeritte went from the Texas Rangers to the Atlanta Braves in the trade that brought Texas big leaguers Lucas Harrell and Dario Alvarez.

Demeritte earned back some of his prospect status this year. Demeritte was ranked as the Rangers’ No. 19 prospect by Baseball America entering 2015, but dropped to No. 28 this year after he served an 80-game suspension last year after testing positive for a banned drug.

But this year Demeritte opened the season with four home runs in the first two games of the season. He hit .272 with 25 home runs and 59 RBI with 13 stolen bases but 125 strikeouts in 88 games with the Mavericks before the trade.

He made his debut with the Braves on Friday, going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts for high Class-A Carolina.

A deal made Friday could go the other way, benefiting a Cal League team rather than stripping it of talent.

Then the San Diego Padres traded big-leaguers Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea to the Miami Marlins as part of a seven-player trade. Coming back were two of Miami’s top prospects: first baseman Josh Naylor, who was ranked as the Marlins’ No. 2 prospect entering the season, and right-hander Luis Castillo, who was just outside the top 30.

Naylor was batting .269 with nine home runs and 54 RBI for low Class-A Greensboro, but it’s not yet known whether he’ll report to the Padres’ low Class-A team at Fort Wayne or to Lake Elsinore.

Castillo, meanwhile, has been outstanding for high Class-A Jupiter, going 7-3 with a 2.25 ERA while walking just 15 batters in 100 innings.

AUGUST DEALS

Of course, there can also be trades past the non-waiver trade deadline, but big league players need to pass through waivers in order to do so.

At this moment, parent clubs with teams in the Cal League who are in the playoff race and as a result, might be buyers at the trade deadline include: San Francisco Giants (San Jose), Dodgers (Quakes), Texas Rangers (High Desert) and Houston Astros (Lancaster). Seattle Mariners (Bakersfield) and Colorado Rockies (Modesto) are on the outside looking in at the playoffs the moment, but could be buyers.

If they do anything, the Angels (66ers), Arizona (Visalia), Oakland (Stockton) and San Diego (Lake Elsinore) would most likely be selling at the big-league level and acquiring minor league talent.

Of those, the Angels are ranked last by Baseball America in terms of strength of the minor league system.

KEEPING CLUBHOUSE MANAGER BUSY

The Dodgers make a lot of moves in their minor league system, and this year it seems like the Quakes have at least one transaction every day.

And with 62 players having played for them this year through Friday, it seems like a lot.

But last year, when the Quakes won the league title, they used 82 different players in the regular season.

By contrast, High Desert has used just 46 players, 66ers 47, and Lake Elsinore and Lancaster 50.

NO LATE-INNING HEROICS

Want to leave a game early and not worry about missing anything?

You could go to a 66ers game.

Through Friday, the Sixers are not only the only team in the league that hasn’t won a game when trailing after eight innings (0-64), they are also the only team in the league that’s winless in games when trailing after seven innings (0-58).

It’s rare but far from unique.

Last year, it was Bakersfield (0-62) that was winless when trailing after eight innings, but before that, every team since High Desert in 2011 had won a game when trailing after eight innings.

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